Saturday, March 1, 2008

Finally... hitting the beach!

So, the conferencing is over -- let the relaxation begin! I made my way down to the beach bright and early this morning to meet a few of the remaining philosophers down at the shore by their hotel.

The road down to the beach

I got more and more excited as I drew nearer to the ocean. The walk down was hot and a little dusty, I was a sunscreen-slick magnet for passing particles on the wind. I couldn't wait to jump in the water.

The bearded ones

On the path down, I passed a grove of trees which I think might have been the kind for which Barbados was (arguably) named by the Portuguese sailors who "discovered" the island.

Finally... the beach!

Still, I only had so much time to spend observing the local flora -- I wanted to see the sea!!


It was gorgeous. I will let the pictures do the talking -- words cannot do the colors justice.


My best beach buddy and I sat, watched the sea, chatted with a nearby British couple on holiday, read, swam, and watched as the clouds and our fellow beach-goers rolled by.

My best beach buddy

There were a couple of people on jet skis...


... and some sailboats came by too


It was a windy day, and clouds swept in front of the sun just often enough to keep the ideal balance of sunshine to coolness. The water was just cool enough to be refreshing when you first entered, but within just a minute felt perfectly warm. I splashed around a little and then floated on my back for a bit. It felt amazing to be buoyed up by this crystal-clear turquoise water, just floating in the Atlantic, rising ever so slightly up and down as the waves rolled in... unlike anything else I'd ever experienced.

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